Expat and travel blog featuring stories on living overseas destinations, as well as some stuff on the expat blogosphere too.

November 2013

11/21/2013

Ireland is popular with holidaymakers from the UK and internationally, and has long been a big UK expat centre, too. Andit's easy to see why - vast expanses of unspoilt countyside, friendly people, and of course the Irish capital Dublin is one of Europe's finest cities - awash with culture, history and beautiful architecture.

Image: Hans-Peter Bock

The country's proximity to the UK also means that, for those looking to live abroad, but not too far away, it's as easy to get to as France or the Netherlands. One of the reasons why, of course that there are many Irish nationals living in the UK and vice-versa. If you're from the UK there are also very few restrictions given EU rules. so no need for a visa, and once there you can remain there as long as you want to.

Economically, of course, Ireland has been affected by the downturn just as nearly every nation the the West has been - but the country is emerging from recession, exiting the euro bailout programme, and has seen improvements in output and employment levels. GDP is expected to grow from point three of a per cent this year to two point one per cent in 2014, and unemployment has fallen by over thirteen per cent this year with a similar figure predicted for next year.

For those working in the technology sector, Ireland could offer a promising location for career development - with search engine Google's European headquarters based in Dublin's thriving 'Silicon Docklands' (with a conference room named after the Irish modernist writer James Joyce) as well as a raft of start ups, accelerators and other groovy businesses in the city.

Obviously given the free movement of EU citizens around the continent it's difficult to arrive at precise figures for the number of UK expatriates in Ireland. On top of this, it's also a next-door nation so there are plenty of people who spend a lot of time there but not enough to become resident for tax purposes, which is approximately half the year (183 days, to be precise). A reasonable figure for the number of expats from the UK in Ireland was quoted by the Guardian newspaper last year, which amounted to 289,000, 125,000 of whom are retirees. That's more than the number of UK expats in Germany and the UAE combined, although still a way short of the million or so UK nationals living in the Australian sunshine.

Check out the Irish government's citizen's information pages for full details on a range of subjects on moving to Ireland including naturalisation, importing your vehicle, and more. Nice list of expats-in-Ireland blog here.